Regulator for incandescent electric-lighting systems



(No Model.) 7 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.v

M. J. WIGHTMAN.

REGULATOR FOR INGANDESGENT ELEGTRIG LIGHTING SYSTEMS. No. 395,936. Patented Jan. 8, 1889.

NY FETHS. Plum-lithograph". Waahington. n C.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

M. J. WIGHTMAN'. REGULATOR FOR INGANDESOENT ELEGTRIG LIGHTING SYSTEMS.

No. 395,936. Patented Jan. 8, 1889.

Sm ugwbo u ETERS.'FholoLi!hographcr. Washmgton. 11c.

MERLE Tran STATES PATENT REGULATOR FOR iNCAi iDESCENT ELECTRlC-LIGHTING SYSTEtllS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 395,986, dated 511121 8, 1889.

Application filed June 29, 1886. Serial No. 206,608. he lllOLlBl.)

To (all 11-71mm it may cone/ 72 Be it known that l, MERLE J. \VIGHTMAX, i

are supplied, therefore, with high-tension current suitable t'or are lighting.

The object ot' m v invention is to maintain constant the potent ial at eachgroup of incandescent lamps by means ot' the current itself; and myinvent ion consists in a regulator which automatically puts in circuit compensating resistz'inces or sat'ctvdamps whenever 'one or more of the lamps in the external circuit is 1 operate tlnerewith.

in any way removed therefrom by means ot the mechanism hereinafter to be set forth.

It consists, further, in providing said regulater with a cut-out [or the cXtci'llal lamps and for the safety devices.

It consists, further, in a peculiar retracting l lg'tll'c I shows a sectional elcvat ion of in Fi 3 shows a sectional )lan of 2 rec-u lat o r.

my l'figllltlitll, and Fig. 2; a diagrannnatic view of the. circuits and a perspectiveot' a portion of the a1' paratus.

15H) and patented ul l3, 188d, No. 315,561, I have shown, (see Fig. 2,) but not claimed, a regulator like the present one. In the other term i have shown (see Fig. l) and claim the tairrent that passes through the coarse-wire coil, passes through the external lamps, and not throne-h tlmsat'ctv-lamps, as in the present case.

ally constructed by me, whereas Fi 3 shows the parts disposed so to clearly show the operation of the apparatus.

the obj eet of this, invention to protect.

At each group ot iucandesccnt lamps l in the circuit L, in which tlure may be any number of groups, I place the regulating ap paratus shown, which consists of a series of conupensating resistances or saiety-laniips, L, connected with the main line, as shown clearly in 2,3. lhcsc satetv-lamps are connected by circuits with contznit-sprina's c 1* 13 &c., mounted upon a solenoid, 55, Figs. 1 and 2, consistingot' two coils, /z 7:. The latter is in a derived circuit of high resistance from the main line and connected with it at the points P and c.

Upon a support, ll, (shown in Figs. l. and 2,) is an arbor, R, carrying curved arms o d d, the, at longitudinal. and radial distances from one another, which are placed adjacent to the contact springs 11 (1, dc. and co- Securtial to this arhor R is a lever, E, carrying upon one end an adjustable countcrpoise, l\'. The other end of this lever terminates in a T-hcad, and suspends from its upper portion, by means of a hand, 1', the core l) of the solenoid. A metal piece, I2 is mounted upon the solenoid for the purpose of limiting the play of the core D. The contact-springs are mounted upon an insulating-piece, 7;. The arhor R carries also a cut-out, 07, which makes contact with a carbon contact, which is also mounted upon the insulating-piece 7;.

The lever E is provided with a peculiar rctracting' device, which consists of a roller, 7', connected by a piece, t, with a retractingj spring, 0, secured to the iupport ii. The lever E is provided with a raised portion, q, and has In anotherpcudingapplication, tiled Julyo,

a slight notch, t, therein for keeping the roller Q 1', which is freely mounted upon the lever, in

its normal position until after the last lamp is put in circuit, after wnich it gravitates to g the arbor R, and thus changes the retracting leverage, and therehy the retracting force. So, too, when the roller 1' is adjacent to the arbor and the lever E is drawn down by the core, it the latter be liberated the lever will Figs. l and 2 show the apparatus as iltilb 1 rise and the retracting device pass down the i The object of this device will he explained farther on. A A represent arc lamp in a main line, L, containing incandescent lamp 1, which it is 1 of low resistance, of the solenoid S.

Connecteo to the main line at the point P is a wire, Z, embracing in its circuit the coil 72, This line ing the curved contact-arms.

This circuit is normally broken, but is completed by the contact of the curved arm with the springs c c c", &c., which is effected in the first instance by the action of the coil 71' acting upon the core which draws down the lever E.

My regulator is suitably housed in a box, B, which carries also the safety-lamps. This box is of small dimensions and may be placed at any point. I have shown two of the safetylamps placed in the interior of the box l; as a matter of convenience only. These lamps may be placed on the top ot, the box as the others, or all of the lamps may be placed in its interior, as desired.

I have shown the contacts c (1' made of carbon to prevent oxidation due to the sparking at the contact. These contacts are the last ones withdrawn from the circuit. 1, and hence there is a tendency of these contacts to burn away when the circuit is ruptured.

Instead of using incandescent lamps to compensate for the change of resistance in, the group in the external circuit I may use any form of resistance; but I prefer the incandescent lamps for this purpose.

The operation of my apparatus is as h llows,

5 any way and the carbon filament disrupted,

a rise of potential at the terminals of the lamps left in circuit due to the increase of re- IVhen one or more of the v sistance in the circuit takes place, which. re-

gether, and thus putting in circuit thesafety- 1 the contact'c.

other safety-lamp will be interposed in the circuit, and thus compensate for the lamps removed from the circuit. In this instance the curved arm a is by means of force exerted upoif the core, through the instrumentality of the lever E, brought in contact with the contact-springs c and so on throughout the series until the last safety-lamp is put in circuit, and previous to the removal. of the last lamp in the external circuit. lfpon the removal of this lamp the core will be drawn in the solenoid. to the end of its limit, and at this time the cut-out c and 0 will be put in circuit, thus short-circuiting the safety-lamps and the lamps in the external circuit. At this time I design also to have the roller 1' leave the notch e and pass near the arbor, thus lessening the retracting force and holding the cut-out firmly together. To place the parts in their normal position, it is necessary lamp which is in electrical connection with \Yhen two lamps in the external circuit are removed therefrom, an-

to break the circuit of the solenoid, which allows the lever to rise and the roller to pass to the notch g and the retracting force to become the same as before.

l lncircling the core D is a low-resistance coil, 71, the purpose of which is to hold the core in the position. it is placed by the tinewire coil 71. This latter coil draws the core down, completes the circuit of the line I at the contacts, and by this means the current which pre'vit'iusly l'lowed in the coil. IL is now transferred to the coil 71, the circuit of which was previously broken. This same --action takes place throughout all the series of contacts until. the cut-out is reached, when all the current passes through the coil of low resistance, by which means, in addition to the change in the retracting force mentioned above, the contacts (1' forming the cut-out, are held firmly together. \Vere it not for this change of retracting force the current in the low-resistance coil might not be adequate to hold the core down and keep the circuit of the cut-out intact.

I may use a number of assisting coils brought successively in circuit and wound about the core 1), each containing one or more of the compensating resistances, instead ofusing a single assisting-coi l having branches containing the compensating resistances.

The principle of operation of my invention may be embodied in regulators of various types and be used for various other purposes without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Iclaim- 1. In a regulator for an electrie-lighting system, an electro-magnet one of whose coils is in a constantly-elosed circuit, an assisting coil, branches, and a series of contacts in the circuit thereof, which are automatically brought into circuit and removed therefrom by increases and decreases of current in said circuits to correspond with the number of lamps in use.

In a regulator for an clectric-lighting system, an. electro-magnet one of whose coils is in a constantly-closed derived circuit, an assisting-coil, branches, and a series of contacts in the circuit thereof,'said branches containing compensating resistances which are automatically and successively brought into circuit and removed,therefrom by the reciprocalaction of said coils due to increases and decreases of cm'rent in said circuits corresponding to changes of resistance in the external circuit.

3. In a regulator'lor an electric-lighting system, an elcctro-magnet one of whosecoils is in a constantly'closed derived circuit, an assisting-coil, branch circuits, and a series of contacts in the circuit thereof, said branch circuitscontaining compensating resistances connected with the line which are automatically and successively brought into circuit and removed therefrom by increases and decreases of current in said circuits to correspond with the number of lamps in use, and a cut-out circuit constituting one of said branch circuits.

l. A regulator for an electric-lighting system, consisting of circuit-controlling devices, branch circuits connected with the main line containing compensating resistances, two solenoids for controlling said circuit-controlling devices, one in a derived circuit and the other in the circuit of said compensating resistances, which circuit is normally broken, but which is completed by said circuit-controlling devices through the action of the first solenoid, as set forth.

A regulator for an electric-lighting system, consisting of circuit-controlling devices, branch circuits connected with the main line containing compensating resistances, two solenoids for controlling said circuit-controlling devices, one in a derived circuit and the other in the circuit of said compensating resistances, which circuit is normally broken, but which is completed by said c'ireuit-controlling devices through the action of the first solenoid, and a cut-out for the lamps in the external circuit and for the compensating resistances brought into action by said solenoids after the last resistance has been introduced, as set forth.

(5. A series multiple regulator for incandescent lamps, embodying a derived circuit containing safety-lam is in m ultiple are, a series of contacts in electrical connection therewith, and two assisting-solenoids, one in the aforesaid derived circuit and the otherin a derived circuit parallel therewith, for placing a greater or less number of said safety-lamps in circuit, as set forth.

7. A series multiple regulator t'orincandescent lamps, embodying a derived circuit containing safety-lamps in multiple arc, a series of contacts in electrical connection therewith, and two assisting-solenoids, one of low and the other of high resistance, for controlling said contacts, one located in. the aforesaid circuit, which is normally broken, and the other in a derived circuit, which is always closed.

8. A series multiple regulator for incandescent lamps, embodying a derived circuit containing safety-lamps in multiple are, a series of contacts in electrical connection therewith,

the other of high resistance, for controlling said contacts, one located in the aforesaid circuit, which is normally broken, and the other in a derived circuit, which is always closed, and a cut-out for both the external lamps and the safety-lamps controlled by said solenoids at a predetermined time, as set forth.

9. A regulator for a series multiple of incai'idescent lamps, consisting of an arbor having a plurality of curved arms mounted thereupon atdifferent radial distances, a lever secured to said arbor substantially atright angles thereto, a solenoid composed of two coils,

one in a constantlyclosed derived circuit of high resistance, the other in a low-resistance circuit parallel therewith, normally open, but

closed by said curved arms, and having multiple branches containing safety-lamps, and a core for said solenoid suitably connected with and actuating said lever, for the purpose set forth.

10. A regulator for a series multiple of incandescent lamps, consisting of an arbor having a plurality of curved arms mounted thereupon at different radial distances, a lever secured to said arbor substantially at right angles thereto, a solenoid composed of two coils, one in a constantly-closed derived circuit of high resistance, the other in a lmv-resistance circuit parallel therewith, normally open, but closed by said curved arms, and having multiple branches containing sat'tev-lamps, and a core for said solenoid suitably connected with and actuating said lever, an adjustable counterpoise for the latter, and a cut-out, also mounted upon said arbor.

ll. A regulator fora multiple series system of incandescent lamps, having a series of contacts mounted upon an arbor, another series of contacts co-opera ting therewith, circuits therefrom con tai n i ng safety d eviees connected with the main line a solenoid and suitable connections therefor, intermediatedevices for operating said lever by the current flowing in said solenoid, and a cut-out, also mounted upon said arbor, operating as and for the purpose described.

12. A retracting device for an incandescent electric-light regulator, having a pivoted lever actuated by changes o if current, and safety devices cut in or out of circuit through the inst rumentality of said lever and other suitable devices, consisting of a roller freely mounted upon said lever, and a retracting spring suitably connected with said roller, whereby the retuu-ting leverage, and thereby the retracting fort-e, is changtal at a predetermined time as the inclination of the lever increases.

12" A retracting device for an incandescent electricdight regulator,having a pivoted lever actuated by changes of current, and safety devices cut in or out of circuit through the instrmncntality of said lever and other suitable devices, consisting of a roller freely and two assisting-solenoids, one of low and I mounted upon. said lever, a retracting-spring suitably connected with said roller, whereby the retracting leverage, and thereby the re- 1 traeting force,is changed at a predetermined time as the inclination of the lever increases, and a cut-out modified in its action by the aforesaid means.

ll. A retracting device for an incandescent electric-light regulator, having a pivoted lever actuated by changes of current, and safety devices cut in or out of circuit through the instrumentality of said lever and other suitable devices, consisting of a roller freely mounted normally in a notch in said lever, a

, retractingspring suitably connected in the IO rent flowing in two coils connected with the 1 main line, which core is suitably fastened to said lever, circuits controlled by said curved arms, safety-lamps in said circuits, a cutout, also mounted upon the aforementioned arbor,

and a shifting retracting device for said lever, I 5

for the purpose set forth.

MERLE J. WIGHTMAN. \Yitnesses:

CHAS. E. DUSTIN,

J. A. DALZELL. 

